Bucky quickly dodged Sniper's punches with his metal arm, shielding his face. Her swings were not sharp and inconsistently timed, making it severely difficult to block. But it was easy enough for him to manage, especially the more he reverted to the ghost soldier he dreaded coming back to.

The next punch Sniper attempted to make, Bucky grabbed the brunt of her bruised knuckles and squeezed it extremely tight. Only the sound of her screaming out of pain made him snap out of it for a brief moment, realizing he was slipping away.

Part of the underground building they stood on, fist to fist, began to collapse slowly. Cracks were apparent on the walls, digging deeper and deeper. A pit of smoke surrounded the shallow right corner of the room, looming over Sniper's back. However, they were too focused to take down their targets—each other.

She finally landed a punch upon Bucky's jaw with the strength to take down a hundred men. He coughed up blood, standing large and tall. At this point, his former self, his task to protect her, slipped away, Replacing Bucky as 'Vronsky,' the assassin, not the father.

Vronsky huffed as he, without pause, blocked every single strike Sniper landed on his upper body. She growled louder and louder out of frustration as she did as a little girl. Coldly, he grabbed a hold of her wrist, sharply flipping her to the ground.

Sniper hissed at him, already preparing to stand back up. Vronsky pushed her back down.

His metal hand trembled back into a fist, standing in place. There was a slight pause before Vronsky took control of himself—She's nothing but a target.

She's not my daughter. She's a target.

He kneeled on top of her without a second thought. No mercy. His rough hands closed around her throat. It was tight enough to shorten her breathing, choking on herself. Tight enough for her to regain hearing from her left ear.

The look in Sniper's eyes remained stoic, cold. She reverted to the little girl back in Siberia, fighting against her father. Begging for a sense of approval. Even if it killed her.

She grabbed ahold of his face, trying to find his throat to strangle, just with her sense of touch. Temporarily, she still had lost her ability to see. But she knew she had to win. She had to win.

Vronsky, at first, ignored her attempts, pressing her throat even tighter. It was a trick. That was what he thought. I have to finish my missio—

He noticed something... her hands felt so warm against his cheeks, soft unlike his... He barely remembered anyone with that sense of touch. A touch of another human. A broken machine.

Broken machine... not a human... Not a daughter...

A memory flashed in his brain... It was Olivia's smile... back on that ladybug tree... the farm...

He was there... smiling as well... Machines don't smile... It was a lie...

Then a memory popped into his brain... or maybe a dream... It was as if Steve's ghost was standing in the pit of fire surrounding the collapsing building around them. "Take care of her."

He paused, wide-eyed, uncertain what to make of that. He thought he was Vronsky... The Winter Soldier... Not a human... Not a father...

Not James Bucky Barnes...

"Take care of her..."

He looked down at Sniper, hands still closed around her throat. He could hear her whimper from her shortened breathing. Tears welled up in her eyes as she assumed her death. But still, then, she managed to put a brave face in front of him... She must be brave...

A final image, something he never would've seen again, burned deep into his brain. He saw the crying baby in his arms under that awful HYDRA base... He saw her pain... He saw her strength... her fear...

His daughter's fear.

His grip loosened immediately. He wasn't looking at a target or a broken machine... he was looking at... his daughter... the baby he abandoned... the one he was looking for...

As Bucky Barnes. Not Vronsky.

He dropped her, walking away to give her space to release her breath. The sound of her choking on her saliva left a deep scar on his fragile heart.

Bucky steadied his breath while standing up. Towering over to see... not Sniper... but Olivia, his baby girl.

He couldn't help but speak.

"I'm not doing this."

Sniper was still on the ground, still regaining her energy. Breathing heavily and coughing off blood.

Bucky deeply frowned, feeling the same dread and guilt. Tears began to spill out of his eyes again, and his voice croaked.

"I'm not gonna fight you, Olivia. You're my... You're my kid..."

Bucky reached to detach his metal arm like Ayo did once with him back in Madripoor... Back when he was deemed...unsafe... And he was still unsafe...

He heard some growling out from her mouth. He grimaced to himself, thinking back from the time he was in her place... How Steve saved him... Now, he had to save her.

He dropped the vibranium arm like a crumpled-up piece of paper. Unimportant. He swallowed his dry mouth, giving out his last plea. He even started to cry in front of his little girl. Something he never did in his life...

"Olivia, please... just come back to me... I'm right here... I'm here now."

But Sniper didn't exactly listen, even with one functioning ear. She was not Olivia but a weapon. A machine. The Winter Soldier's successor. And she was desperately trying to prove it to the bitter end.

By the time she stood up and turned toward Bucky, her eyes were still black... still soulless. Her face was all scrunched up angrily, preparing to fight him again.

She waited for a second for another hit, kick, or shove. But it never came. Bucky was still a few feet away from her.

Nevertheless, Sniper, not Olivia, then pounced on him, completely on top of him. She repeated the same motion, striking each punch harder and harder. She snarled at him, waiting for him to hit her back.

Bucky's face came battered in black and blue, but he took it as he was now a man and a father. He took it all. I have to let her do this. It's the only way.

I need my baby girl back.

Sniper, growing agitated and relentless, continued to punch as her hits became even more sloppy and inconsistent. Why isn't he fighting back? Machines fight back.

She screamed at him to do something. Hit something. Fight back.

Her punches were stronger and faster as Bucky's voice became hoarse. Fight back!

Bucky just stared up at her, imprinting the image of her face... At least... the last thing he'll see when he is gone... it would be his little girl. He prepared himself for the worst. He was ready to die.

After several punches, she readied for her next punch. Just like Bucky did with Steve way back when. He saw his life flash before his eyes... Brooklyn... his parents... Steve... Peggy... Dylan on that farm... and Olivia... his daughter...

His mind was stuck on the specific memory of the two, trapped as weapons under HYDRA... the moment he first held her... the moment he looked into her eyes, same as his...

She was so young... so young...

Her fist froze in the air, breathing heavily. She didn't know why, but she paused.

Finish it, she thought. What are you doing?

He had to say something at that moment. The next words he said, as he assumed, were his last words to her. It broke out as a whisper.

"I... I love you..."

Sniper's eyes furrowed, able to hear what he said. But she didn't understand... Machines don't love... They kill... Only humans love. And I'm not a human. I'm not Olivia... I'm not—

He repeated himself, softer. "I... love... you... Olivia..."

Don't call me that. I'm not her—I'm what you wanted... I'm a machine. I'm a good machine.

She started to sob, slipping away from being Sniper... for one last minute. She hated it...

All she wanted was to prove herself to him. And she failed.

With her prosthetic arm, she punched the ground next to him and let out a painful scream. Bucky, barely alive, could hear her young self scream like that in the back of his mind. He wished he didn't.

As she sobbed, the sound of cement falling apart before them snapped her back into reality. She turned to see shattered pieces of infrastructure and black smoke as the building was nearing a collapse.

She just realized that she had reverted back to the girl she was meant to be. Olivia.

Within an instant, Olivia returned her gaze to Bucky and saw the bruises on his face... his closed eyes... All the scars she left... the damage she made... She frowned at him like a child. Why isn't he responding to me?

She noticed his arm was missing and immediately rushed her fingers through the empty space. Her breath was quick as she looked down as his skin lost its color.

What did I do?

She whimpered loudly as more pieces of cement fell onto the ground, sending dust everywhere. She shielded her body from Bucky's, hoping nothing would hurt him. Like how she hurt him.

As more of the building collapsed above him, Olivia cupped Bucky's face one last time before standing up. She reached behind him and began to drag his body out of the undercover base. Bits of smoke and cement dust caught a whiff in Olivia's nostrils, but she kept going. Although she had the strength of more than a hundred men, dragging Bucky felt like the heaviest thing she had ever lifted...

But she kept going. She had to keep going.

They missed the base's implosion by a second and returned to the rainy forest. She dragged Bucky through the mud, placing him far away from the destroyed building. They were finally together again—alone.

It was eerily quiet between the two of them. Mostly because Olivia kept staring down at her father to say something.

He hadn't moved for fourteen seconds... Why isn't he moving?

She listened to his heartbeat. Not a single heartbeat...

No...

I have to save him. I have to make him proud of me.

"N–No... no..." She whimpered, gripping him by the shoulder to shake. She never spoke so clearly before.

Bucky was still. Eyes closed.

Wake up. "Get up."

Her voice was bitterly hoarse, tearing up. "Get. Up."

But he didn't. He stayed where he was.

Olivia watched him for a few seconds more before realizing the inevitable... She couldn't even say it but instead cried like she was ten years old. Back then she was left alone to fend for herself.

What did I do?

I did this. My fault.

She buried herself in his chest, hiding her red face and running nose. She desperately wanted to hear his heartbeat. Hear him call her 'kid' one more time... She wanted her father.

"Don't go."

Don't go...

Through all of her painful sobbing, a hand, a rough yet tender, reached to pat her head in a soothing motion. Caressing her like a father would.

Olivia's breath stiffened for a brief moment... Realizing who it was... "Daddy?"

"There she is."

Olivia was too deep in his chest to see him smiling at her. With tears in his eyes. "I'm proud of you, kid."

Like a child, she only hugged him tightly for comfort, still crying. But only this time, those tears weren't out of pain.

Bucky continued to caress her, relieved to be alive. Months ago, he would've felt different.

But he wasn't like that anymore... Now, he could finally say that he finally had something to live for.

A girl like him.